Two people were killed and several others injured after a truck rammed into a Ganesh immersion procession on National Highway 75 near the Nayakaneri toll plaza in V.Kota mandal of Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district in the early hours of Thursday, according to police and local residents.
The devotees from Gandodipalyam village had left at around 1 am with a Ganesh idol for immersion at Chintamakula Cheruvu. They were walking along the highway near the toll plaza when the truck struck the procession, the report said.
The truck was carrying potatoes and was travelling from Nayakaneri towards Hassan in Karnataka. Police said the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle before it rammed into the group. The circumstances leading to the reported loss of control were not detailed in the supplied report.
V. Varalakshmi, 45, and Siva Prasad, 28, both from Paikanin village, died at the scene. Locals said that around 20 people were hit by the vehicle. The report did not provide a final official count of those injured.
The injured were taken to PES Medical College Hospital in Kuppam for treatment. Two injured people, Varalakshmi and Vennela, were reported to be in critical condition. The supplied report did not specify whether any arrests had been made or whether police had registered a case against the truck driver.
The crash occurred on a highway being used by pedestrians during a late-night religious procession. The incident has placed the immediate focus on the movement of devotees along the highway and the response required after a high-impact collision, although the report does not provide details about traffic-control arrangements, lighting, road shoulders or police deployment at the location.
The incident also involved movement across state-linked freight and travel routes: the truck was headed towards Hassan in Karnataka after travelling from Nayakaneri. However, no further details were provided about the vehicle’s registration, speed, driver condition or mechanical status.
Police and medical teams responded after the crash, with the injured being shifted to the hospital in Kuppam. Further details on the investigation, the condition of those receiving treatment and the legal action against the driver were not available in the supplied report.
